A Life of Capture
by xXPeachyMadnessXx
Summary: Shikamaru was captured by strange ninja when he was six years old, just starting the academy. He is now found at twelve years old and struggling to put what happened to him behind. He is now trying to survive in a new way, adapting to home life. However, the past continues to follow him in ways that he does not want.
1. Chapter 1: A new life

Shikamaru ran. He ran as fast as he could, faster than he ever ran before. There were voices yelling at him, taunting him. Those were the voices that he was trying to get away from. The voices that have haunted him for the past six years. The voices that he couldn't put with a face because he never got to see one. For six years, he was never able to see his captors. He didn't want to anyway. All he wanted was to be as far away from the wretched place.

He had no idea how long he had ran for but he didn't care. Dawn began to surface and Shikamaru began to realize that it was now the next day. He decided to walk over to a tree and sit down in the shade. It only took minutes before he passed out from exhaustion.

 _Pain is what he could feel. The pain of whips, burns, broken bones and poison. The slice of a kunai knife was very common. Almost an everyday occurance. The smell of blood and strange serums were everywhere. All Shikamaru could see was blood and darkness. All he knew was violence, pain and survival. All he could hear were screams and yelling…_

The next noise that Shikamaru heard was beeping. An obnoxious monotonous beeping. The only plus side was that it happened at a regular tempo so he could block it out from his mind. He tried desperately to open his eyes, but he just wasn't able to. He then tried to speak, but all that came out was a groan.

"...Maru. Are you okay? Son, can you hear me?" he heard a voice say. Whose voice was that? It sounded very familiar, but who was it? Shikamaru was finally able to open his eyes but everything was very white and blurry. It took a long time but he was finally able to see things clearly. He looked over to see a man that looked very similar to him.

"Dad? That you?" Shikamaru asked in a very rough voice. Shikaku walked up to him and put a hand on his leg.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was before. Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital in Konoha," Shikaku answered

"How? Last I remembered I passed out," Shikamaru said

"Well, we were lucky. Konoha ANBU found you passed out in the middle of the forest. They recognized that you were a Nara and brought you back. I'm really happy that you're here son," Shikaku said. Shikamaru smiled a bit.

"Where's mom?" Shikamaru asked,

"She left a while ago to get something to eat. She'll be back soon," Shikamaru nodded and leaned back into the pillow sighing.

"I thought that I'd never be back in Konoha ever again," Shikamaru said

"But you're here now, and you can continue living the life that you deserve," Shikaku said. Shikamaru nodded his head and closed his eyes, now comforted by the fact that he was alive and in a safe place. He was home. Nothing else mattered but that fact at that moment. He fell into a dreamless sleep, one of the few he would get from now on.

It was a few more weeks before Shikamaru was cleared to go. It was an odd feeling being back into his home. Never had he thought he would be back. This all felt so strange and foreign to him. Home should never feel foreign to someone, he thought. However, part of him believed that he didn't deserve to be here. His friend from the camp, Takata, had sacrificed himself to help Shikamaru get this far. His friend deserved to be safe and sound in his home too. Wherever that was. They never talked about their home lives. They didn't need to.

"Welcome home Shikamaru," his mom said, pulling Shikamaru closer to her, as though she was afraid he'd be taken again. The act of a hug was strange to him as well. He wasn't used to a comfortable lifestyle. It was a nice feeling, though he knew it would take a while before he got used to the idea of his _mom_ hugging him. Shikamaru stifled a yawn. Even though he had slept a lot in the hospital, he was still very tired.

"Mom, can I go to sleep?" he asked. Yoshino was surprised that he would ask such a question. Most people just announce that they are going to sleep.

"Yes, of course, Shikamaru, you can sleep," she said. Shikamaru nodded his head and left, not looking up at his mom at all. Once he got to his room he just stood there, staring at what was once and now is, his. His bed was still unmade and the Shogi board still had pieces in their spots, as though it was in the middle of a game. It was a weird feeling, like time had stopped in this room, yet the rest of the house had moved on. He didn't know how to feel about it, knowing that the last time he was in here, he was his six year old self, unaware of the horrors he would face in the future. He walked up to his bed and laid down, slowly falling asleep.

 _They were in a cell. Takata and him. Their mission was simple. Survey the land and bring back information. What wasn't simple was the fact that the land they were in was filled with Iwa nin who were notoriously known for their merciless tactics. If you were caught, you were most likely dead. He and Takata were hanging by the ceiling, covered in cuts, burns and puncture wounds. Luckily, they didn't decide to break any of their bones yet, though they knew it was going to happen soon. Takata was worse than Shikamaru. He had a burn mark on almost every inch of his stomach._

 _Shikamaru's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and an Iwa nin appeared. He started asking for the basic information. Information that Takata and him were trained not to tell. That's when the pain began again. The cuts, the smell of burning flesh, the screams of him and his teammate. It was all too much to handle, but he was forced to. He needed to survive. The man took his kunai, and stabbed him straight through his heart._

Shikamaru bolted out of bed, gasping for breath. Those weeks at the Iwa prison was a time that he did not want to remember. He pushed his covers away from him and he sat down by the Shogi board. He tried to imagine the last game that he had with his dad that would lead these pieces to the places that they were at. However, he wasn't able to. He could barely remember a clear detail before his capture. Just vague memories of who was who and what was what. He looked over at the clock to see that it was 5:00am. To early in the morning to go back to sleep. Not that he would be able to anyways.

He heard some noises outside his room, noises that he hadn't heard in a long time. The sounds of pots and pans clinging together. He went to take a shower before he walked out of his room. His mom looked surprised to see him up this early.

"You're up early, Shikamaru," she commented

"Nightmare. Couldn't go back to sleep," he said simply. His mom nodded her head in understanding.

"Breakfast will be ready in a bit," she said.

Ten minutes later, he was eating breakfast along with his father and mother. It was mostly a silent affair until around the end.

"What's going to happen to me?" Shikamaru asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked.

"I mean, will I still be able to be a ninja. I can still fight. While I was held captive they trained us," Shikamaru said in a way that he was trying to convine someone he was still capable of fighting. Almost pleadingly like. Shikaku didn't like the way that Shikamaru sounded when he said that.

"Of course you'll still be a ninja, Shikamaru. You remember Choji and Ino? You'll be on a team with them. I don't know who your sensei is yet though," Shikaku answered. Choji and Ino, yes, he did remember them. Choji was his best friend before he got captured.

"Yeah, I do remember them," he said. He could sense his parents sigh in relief. He couldn't blame them. They were probably worried about how much he actually remembered.

"You will go to the academy today and get into your groups. Of course, Ino and Choji don't know that they're on the same team yet. They'll figure out today, so don't let them know in advanced, okay?" Shikaku said. Shikamaru nodded his head. He finished breakfast and got up to go to the academy. Before he left his father stopped him.

"Here's this. You'll need it," he said, handing him the Leaf headband. Shikamaru took it and tied it around his arm. He looked at the leaf symbol on the headband, and remembered when it used to be replaced with the hidden fang symbol. For some reason this symbol looked a lot more friendly than the other.

"Thank you," he said, and bowed slightly, refusing to look at his father in the eyes. He set off for the academy, leaving his parents in slight confusion as to why Shikamaru had acted so formally to them like that.


	2. Chapter 2: What is normal?

Shikamaru entered into the doors of the academy. Once again, the feeling of everything being foreign hit him. He walked to the room that he was supposed to meet at. His old classroom. Once he walked in, the chatter in the room stopped, everyone turned to look at him. He couldn't blame them. The kid that they only knew for a few months before he mysteriously disappeared suddenly came back. For most of them it would mean nothing. But for a few of them, it would mean everything. The silence went on for a while until Choji went up to him to say hi. Everyone looked away, but he could hear their whispers.

"Hey Shikamaru," Choji said in his cheerful voice, which made Shikamaru always want to smile.

"Hey Choji," he said, patting him on the shoulder, "how are you doing?" he asked.

"A lot better now that you're back here," Choji said with a large grin. The two sat down at a table and waited for their sensei to come in. Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder what his life would be like if he had spent his childhood in this classroom instead of that prison. Of course it would be happier and pain free, but then again, he would have never met Takata. The one person that made him keep going forward, no matter how hard it got. His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened revealing Iruka sensei. Iruka went up to the podium and started to talk.

"Alright guys, today I am going to put you into three man squads. These squads will be your genin squads. You will do missions with them and train with them. I will now begin calling out names," he said. Shikamaru tuned out most of what was being said. He thought he heard some ruckus going on when he mentioned Sasuke, but he wasn't so sure. He didn't care.

"Team ten, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka," Iruka announced. If Choji could grin even more than he did, it was possible. Shikamaru smiled as well. Even though he was told by his dad that this would happen, it was still a relief to hear it come from Iruka as well. It would be really nice to have somebody that he was once friends with on his team. They were all dismissed to meet their sensei's. Their sensei was Asuma. A man who always had a cigaret. The smell that came from the cigaret was kind of annoying, but Shikamaru guessed he would have to get used to it.

The rest of the afternoon was spent introducing themselves and training. The whole time Shikamaru was careful not to look at his mast… no sensei in the eyes. He was afraid of what could happen if he did. In fact, he didn't really call his sensei by anything. That was something he realized he would need to get over quickly in order to not get any unwanted attention. He said his goodbyes to his teammates when they were done and went back home. He found his mom cleaning the house when he returned. Yoshino looked up when she heard the door open.

"Welcome home, Shikamaru," she said.

"Why do you keep calling me by my name?" Shikamaru asked. He had noticed that people were calling him by his name, and not his number 122. He didn't quite understand why they weren't calling him by that. It was bothering him slightly the whole day.

"Because that's you name. Shikamaru," She answered, though there was a slight hint of sadness in the voice. But why?

"But why don't you call me 122? That's what everybody else called me," Shikamaru said.

"That's what they called you there. Back at that prison. Here, you are known as Shikamaru. Shikamaru Nara, and you will be called by that name," she explained. Shikamaru wasn't entirely convinced, but he let it go by for now. It was soon time for dinner and his father arrived right on time.

"How was your day, Shikamaru?" he asked.

"It was fine. I like my new team and I think I can work well with them. However, Ino is a little crazy," he said. His father chuckled slightly at that.

"She has quite the personality. At least you don't have to raise her like poor Inoichi," he said, stroking his beard. Shikamaru slightly smiled at that comment. He finished the meal and excused himself. He went to his room and immediately went to bed. Today was tiring. More tiring than he thought it would be, though this time it was a good tired. Not the usual tiredness that he felt when he was at the camp and the dread of what would come the next day. This time, it was a blissful tiredness. One where he knew he could fall into a good, deep sleep.

The next few months was a consistent schedule of training and learning new techniques. Much of what was new to Choji and Ino wasn't new to him. He had to act like he didn't grasp it fully until after a few tries. Like before, he didn't want to much attention. Too much attention was a bad thing. His sensei was really nice, not something that he was used to. Asuma would always address him by his name and praise him, never reprimanding him, though he would be quick to fix the mistakes. Shikamaru tried his best to not show any sign that he was having trouble adjusting to the new way of teaching and living. In fact, he thought he was doing quite well.

His team would sometimes go to the BBQ place and eat for lunch. Shikamaru had to admit, it was somewhat hard to get back into the social life. He never had any of that back at the camp. One thing that he noticed himself doing was that he could never look at an adult in the eyes. He could with all the kids, but never an adult. He was afraid that they would notice and comment, but so far nothing had happened. Nobody even questioned about his past which confused him. He had expected nothing but questions, however, they had done the opposite. They were giving him his space that he needed. Though he was sure that he was being watched and reported on. That was inevitable.

They had begun to do D rank missions, though they were very basic and easy to him. It was slightly boring, though he was happy that he had something to keep his mind busy. Shikamaru was afraid of what his mind could do if he allowed it to linger on its own for too long. At nights Shikamaru would play Shogi with his father. It was nice to spend time with his dad. Part of him thought that it was a disguise for his father to study his son, but he chose to dismiss that thought. He didn't need anymore dark thoughts in his head. He was already struggling to get through the day with the nightmares that he had.

One day he came home after a particularly tiring mission. The night before he had had a nightmare and was not able to function well that day. He tried his best to hide how tired he was, but he could sense that Asuma was able to tell. He came home and immediately went to his bed. He could hear his mom ask how his day was, but he didn't answer back. Shikamaru plopped down onto his bed and immediately fell asleep.

Yoshino heard the door open and was barely able to see her son come in before he retreated to his room. She asked how his day was but he didn't respond. She guessed that he was too tired to answer. A few hours later her husband came in.

"Has Shikamaru come back yet?" Shikaku asked.

"Yes, but he was really tired and went straight to bed," Shikaku nodded his head in understanding. There was a knock on the door that surprised them both. Shikaku went to answer it to find Asuma at the door.

"I apologize for intruding, but I would like to talk about Shikamaru,"

"Is there any major problems?" Yoshino asked, concerned about her son.

"No, not major, though I have noticed some odd behavior patterns from him throughout the few months of training that we have done together," The three moved over to the couch while Yoshino went to grab some tea.

"What seems to be the problem?" Shikaku asked.

"Overall, he seems to be doing a good job getting back into society. Though I think that may just be his survival instincts kicking in," Shikaku frowned and said,

"I hope that isn't the case," Asuma sighed,

"I hope so too," Yoshino came back with the tea and sat down next to her husband, Asuma continued,

"One of the main things that I have noticed is that he refuses to look at me in the eyes. He'll look in my general direction, but never at my face,"

"I've noticed that too," Yoshino said, "He must have not been allowed to look at the adults in the face when he was at the camp,"

"The strange thing is that he can do it with Ino and Choji, just not anybody older than him," Asuma added.

"Now that you say that, I do remember him doing that. When we play Shogi together he always either looks at the board or to my side," Shikaku said.

"I also think he is not showing his full potential. They must have trained him a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he's at a Jonin level. Though I do have a question. Do you know how his sleeping habits have been?"

"You know, I'm not sure. He's been looking really tired lately but he tries to hide it," Shikaku said

"A few hours before you came, Shikamaru came home and immediately went to bed without saying a word," Yoshino said

"He did look extra tired today. Once again he tried to hide it. He's not talking about anything to me. He's brushing it off and acting like everything is fine," Asuma said.

"I guess this means we'll have to pay extra close attention to Shikamaru from now on. I could tell he was having trouble with adjusting but he was hiding it so well from me. We shouldn't be overbearing but we need to figure out more about how he is feeling so that we can help him more. He's been so used to having to figure things out on his own that he needs to be told that he actually has people now to help him," Shikaku said.

"I agree," Asuma said. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash come from Shikamaru's room and all the adults turned their heads in that direction. Shikaku was the first to get up and rush over to Shikamaru's room. When he opened it he was surprised to see Shikamaru shaking in what seemed like fright, in the corner of the room. The Shogi board was a complete mess. That is what probably caused the crash. Shikaku hesitantly walked up to Shikamaru, not wanting to startle him anymore than he already was. Yoshino and Asuma came up behind him. Yoshino was about to run up to Shikamaru but Shikaku stopped her before she could get any closer.

"We don't want to startle him," Shikaku said. Yoshino nodded in understanding. Shikaku looked at Shikamaru's eyes and could see that he wasn't completely present to where he was. It was like he was reliving a past event.

"Shikamaru?" Shikaku asked quietly and slowly. Shikamaru still didn't respond. Instead, his eyes moved around in a blur, as if looking for enemies.

"Shikamaru, it's me, your father," This got Shikamaru's attention, though it was little. His eyes went to Shikaku and looked at him as though he was observing him for the first time. Shikamaru's eyes knit together in confusion.

"Are you with us son?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru's breathing was still rapid, but his face looked a lot more calm than he was. He slowly nodded his head,

"I think so," he answered.

"Tell me where you think you are," Shikaku said. Shikamaru looked around and saw the forest through the window. His green colored room and the Shogi board. He looked at the door and saw his mom along with Asuma sensei.

"Why is Asuma here?"

"You don't need to know. But I need to know that you know where you are,"

"Home," Shikamaru answered in between the short breaths.

"Yes, you are. Now I need you to calm your breathing. You're panicking right now. Take deep breaths," he ordered. Shikamaru nodded and did as he was told. After a few minutes he was able to control his breathing. Shikaku looked over at Yoshino and waved her over. Yoshino took the cue and quickly, but slowly at the same time, went up to Shikamaru and put him in her arms. Shikamaru accepted the embrace.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Yoshino asked quietly

"Nightmare," was all that Shikamaru would say.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yoshino asked. Shikamaru shook his head. Yoshino looked up at Shikaku and nodded her head as a way of saying that she will handle Shikamaru. Shikaku understood and walked out with Asuma.

"Sorry that you had to witness that. Shikamaru must feel pretty embarrassed about what happened," Shikaku said to Asuma.

"Well now we know the answer to if he's sleeping well. I wonder how many nightmares he's had since he's come back," Asuma said.

"I'm afraid to know the answer. Asuma, please look out for Shikamaru when you are with him,"

"Of course," Asuma said. Before Asuma went out the door, Yoshino came in.

"How is he?" Asuma asked

"Asleep. It took a bit to get him to go back to sleep though," Yoshino answered.

"That's understandable," Shikaku said.

"I should be going now. I'll let you know if anything happens when he is with team ten," Asuma said.

"Thank you," said Yoshino. Asuma bowed and walked out of the house. Yoshino sat down onto the couch, somewhat weary. Shikaku sat next to her and put an arm around her.

"He'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

"I hope so,"

A few days passed after the incident. Shikamaru felt slightly embarrassed to be around his sensei since he knew he was there to witness the panic attack that he had. Asuma was acting like nothing happened, though he knew that Asuma was keeping an extra careful watch on him. Most likely by the doing of his father. Their teamwork was getting a lot better which Shikamaru was thankful for. It would make working on missions a lot easier. They finished training for the day and went to go eat at the BBQ restaurant. Asuma handed out some papers halfway through the meal. Shikamaru picked it up with curiosity.

"What's this?" Ino asked,

"Those are applications for the chunin exam. I feel like you three are ready to take the challenge. Your teamwork has vastly improved which will help a lot with this exam," Asuma explained, "But of course, it all depends on if you three want to do it. I have to tell you though, that all three of you need to agree on taking it. You can't go in with only two people on the team,"

"I'm in," Shikamaru said immediately. He knew that he would be able to complete it. Because of his training in the camp, he had the skill level and intelligence of a jonin.

"You didn't even think about it," Ino said, slightly shocked with how fast he answered,

"I have to agree with Ino on this one. Don't you think this takes more consideration before we jump right in?" Choji said, somewhat uncertain if he wanted to do it. Asuma however, was not surprised. He knew that Shikamaru had good leadership skills and would be able to talk them into it.

"Listen. All we're doing is D rank missions. Maybe one C rank mission. I personally find them really easy to do, but I'm sure it's the same way for you two as well. If we want to move up in the ninja world we have to take the risks and opportunities that come our way. If we want to do higher rank missions, this is what we'll have to do. Besides, if we fail this time, we always have another chance to take it again," Shikamaru said. He could see that both Ino and Choji were considering what he had said. He hoped that they would say yes because he was getting really tired of doing D rank missions. Yes, they were refreshing to do instead of staking his life at every mission, but he really wanted to do the higher up missions as well.

"All right, I'll do it," Choji said. Ino looked at him in shock. It seemed as though she was doubting herself to be able to do it.

"I don't know…" Ino said.

"Come on Ino, Shikamaru's right. We're more than capable of doing this. And if we fail, we do have another chance to do it again," Choji said. Ino slowly nodded her head.

"Okay, I'll do it," she said. Once she said that a grin came on Choji's face and Shikamaru was relieved. He could see Asuma smiling as well.

"I'm very happy you guys are choosing to do this. It will really test your skill, but I have full faith in you three. The exam will start in two weeks," he said. Everyone nodded their heads, determination shown on their faces.


	3. Chapter 3: An old enemy appears

**Hello! I am finally back with the story! School has ended and now it's summer so I'll try my best to upload this more. The whole story is already written but I'll need to go back and edit some stuff and maybe change a few things. Thanks so much for being patient with my uploading. Just know that I haven't forgotten about this story.**

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji walked up to the academy. Today was the day that they would be taking the first round of the chunin exams. They had spent the past few weeks training even more for this exam. Ino had constantly pestered Asuma about what would be on the test, but he wouldn't say anything. Shikamaru was slightly nervous, but since he'd practically already done missions that were the rank of ANBU he felt slightly better. Though Ino and Choji didn't know that. In fact, nobody knew that yet. Asuma sensei was able to see that his skills were greater than his other teammates, but he never asked any questions as to why. Shikamaru always wondered when they would ask those questions, but it never happened.

They were on the second floor when they heard some commotion. Something about a person wanting another person to let them through.

"I wonder what that's about?" Ino asked.

"Don't know, but we have one more floor to go up," Shikamaru said. Ino looked confused.

"Really? I thought we were already on the third floor,"

"Yeah, same," Choji said.

"Trust me, we still have one more floor to go," Shikamaru stated again. The other two looked at him quizzically but followed his lead. They must have not noticed the genjutsu that was placed the moment they entered the building. Shikamaru was trained to be able to feel when he entered a genjutsu. No matter how much he hated that place, he was secretly grateful for the training he got.

The three got up to the large doors. Shikamaru opened them and they entered the room. Immediately Shikamaru felt a cold presence and was on guard.

"You alright Shikamaru?" Choji asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shikamaru answered. Choji must sensed his change in mood. Sometimes he wished his friend wasn't as good at being able to read people's emotions. Shikamaru looked around to see where the cold, almost murderous presence came from. It didn't take long before he spotted a familiar figure. He quickly looked away and walked to the corner of the room with his teammates. He didn't want to be around the large crowd of people who were sitting down. That was one thing that always put him on edge. Large crowds. A few minutes passed before he heard a shrill shriek,

"Sasuke kun!" Ino yelled and ran up to him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and tried to ignore what was happening over with the others. He could hear Choji eating furiously beside him.

"You nervous?" Shikamaru asked. Choji looked at him with a nervous smile.

"How'd you guess?" he asked sarcastically. Shikamaru looked at the group of 7 gennin. They were all in a circle listening to a man with a voice that was oddly familiar. Looking around, he saw that the man he spotted originally was nowhere to be seen.

"Come on Choji, let's go see what they're looking at," Shikamaru said. The two walked over and joined the circle.

"Looks like we've got a few more people to join the audience," The man said. Shikamaru looked at him and had to suppress his shock. The man stood up and brought up his hand for Shikamaru to shake.

"The name's Kabuto," the man said. It took all of Shikamaru's will power not to attack him right then or to panic, but he played along with the man, as though they didn't know each other before.

"Shikamaru," he said back and shook the hand.

"And you are?" Kabuto asked Choji.

"I'm Shikamaru's friend, Choji," Choji said.

"Friend huh? You two on the same team?" Kabuto asked.

"Yep," Choji answered. Shikamaru tried to not give Kabuto a cold glare as to avoid any suspicion from the others. Though he figured that the only people that could possibly catch on were Shino, Sasuke or Sakura.

"So this is the Rookie nine from Konoha that I've been hearing about. You guys are quite the group," Kabuto commented. He looked over at Shikamaru and gave him a triumphant smirk. Shikamaru felt cold. He thought that he had finally escaped from that hell hole of a prison. But it seems that that was not the case. Before anymore could be said the proctor showed up and told everyone to pick their number. Shikamaru sat down at his spot and waited. As fate would have it, Kabuto was placed next to him.

"Looks like we meet again Shikamaru kun," Kabuto said in his sadistic voice.

"What are you doing here," Shikamaru asked, trying to sound calm.

"What does it look like? To take the exams of course," Kabuto answered simply.

"You know what I mean. I know that you work for Orochimaru and those people that held me captive. What's to stop me from telling everybody that?" Shikamaru asked.

"You value friendship. I'd hate for anything bad to happen to your puny little friends during the second round of the Chunin exams," Kabuto mocked. Damn it. He was right. Anything could happen in the next round.

"Alright, you win this round," Shikamaru said defeatedly. Kabuto smirked.

"I bet you thought that you finally got away from that prison. But you're wrong. And let me tell you. It was so much fun to put that knife through that little brat's throat," Shikamaru didn't listen to the rest of what was said. It took all of his will not to lash out. He looked up at the proctor to see that he was looking at both of them. Was he able to see or feel that something was wrong between the two? His thoughts were cut off when the proctor began to speak, initiating the start of the exam.


	4. Chapter 4: The chunin exams

**Another update! This one's a bit longer than the others. I've changed a few things from the original chunin exams to make it flow more with my story. Hope you don't mind.**

The first exam was easy. A little too easy. Shikamaru was able to see through everything that they had in place and was able to complete the exam with little to no stress. This made him wonder more what they were taught in the academy. He could sense Kabuto snickering next to him.

"Aren't you glad you were trained by your masters? You were able to get through this very easily. It will also make the next stage easy as well," Kabuto whispered, sending Shikamaru on edge. He hated the word master. Shikamaru refused to answer. The hour passed and Ibiki started to talk about the final question. Shikamaru was able to figure out quite fast that there was a big loophole to the question. He looked over to see that Ino and Choji were looking at him with questioning looks. He could tell by how they looked that they were going to stay, but wanted some confirmation. Shikamaru nodded his head and they looked back to the front of the room, relieved that they were right. Suddenly, someone started yelling like crazy at the proctor. Shikamaru tensed at the sudden noise, and for a second nearly went into panic mode. Back at the prison, if they yelled back at their masters, they were either killed or tortured. Shikamaru looked up to see that it was Naruto who was yelling. For some reason that made him relax. Knowing that there was somebody like him here made him remember that he was not at the prison. After Naruto finished yelling, Ibiki went on to explain the answer and reasoning behind the question. They were finally dismissed after the crazy lady made her entrance. Shikamaru got up to go to his teammates when he heard Kabuto speak again.

"Remember what could happen to your dear little friends. You don't want another episode like last time," he threatened. Shikamaru walked away without looking back. He saw the rest of his team and walked up to them.

"What did you think of that test?" Ino asked.

"Eh, it was too easy," Shikamaru said.

"Man, I wish I was as smart as you Shikamaru. It was really hard for me," Choji answered.

"That part doesn't matter. We're all together for the second round," Shikamaru said. Choji and Ino nodded their heads in agreement. However, Shikamaru was even more nervous and worried this time around. Now that he knew Kabuto was here, that meant he was going to have to pay extra attention to his surroundings to make sure he didn't hurt his teammates. There was no way that he was going to lose another friend again. Not by his own negligence.

They got to the gate where the forest of death resided. When Anko announced that they may not come back out of those gates alive his teammates looked nervous and a bit scared. Shikamaru was used to that though. He even nearly died multiple times back with the missions he used to do. He shook his head trying to get rid of those memories.

Once they signed the waiver forms they headed to their assigned gate. Shikamaru tried to see where Kabuto was located but failed. He hoped that he was on the other side of the forest. The gates then opened and they ran inside.

It took them a few days but they finally got the other scroll that they needed and even a couple more so that they could be safe and eliminate a few more people along the way. They walked in the building that was in the center of the tower and was able to rest.

"Geez, that took so long," Ino complained as she slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Shikamaru could tell that none of them were used to missions like these.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" Choji asked.

"We can only hope that they're doing fine," Shikamaru answered. However, deep down he was uneasy, and felt that this wasn't exactly over for them. Inside they were safe. Outside however, anything goes and they still needed food to wait out for the next few days. He couldn't get the feeling out that Kabuto was purposely doing this to get his guard down before he attacked. Even though the tower was a safe base, who was to stop Kabuto from attacking here as well?

"I'm going to go out and catch some fish for us to eat," Shikamaru said.

"We'll come out and help," Ino said.

"No. I don't want you to. It'll be better for just one person to go in order to not arouse unwanted attention from the other players. Don't come out if I'm gone for a long time. I don't want anything bad to happen," Shikamaru explained. The others nodded their heads, understanding of what Shikamaru was saying. He was glad that they didn't question his logic too much. He took out all the scrolls and handed then to Ino.

"Take these just in case I'm attacked," Shikamaru said. Shikamaru then walked out of the tower and to the nearest stream. He was able to catch three fish before he heard some noise. He quickly retreated to avoid being seen.

"When are you planning on attacking him boss," a man asked. Shikamaru spared a glance to see that Kabuto was walking with his team.

"Not now. I want to wait till the attack during the third round by the sand ninja. That way I can have an easier time to take him back," Kabuto said.

"But what if they don't make it through the second round?" the man asked.

"That won't matter. They'll still be expected to fight during the invasion," Invasion? The sound and sand ninja were planning an invasion on the leaf? Shikamaru was about to retreat when he heard Kabuto speak.

"I know you're here Shikamaru. Don't you remember? I'm excellent with tracking people," he said. Shikamaru froze and turned around.

"You know, I was planning on taking you during the invasion, but since you already heard all about it, I'm going to have to do something about that," Kabuto said. Shikamaru was about to start his hand signs when Kabuto was behind him and pinned his arms. Shikamaru started to struggle.

"Looks like I have the advantage here. You've never seen me fight, but I know your fighting style by heart," Kabuto said. Shit, this wasn't good, Shikamaru thought.

"Let go of me," Shikamaru growled

"Ever the feisty one aren't you? I'll let you go once you tell me where your teammates are. Someone needs to learn a lesson about snooping on other people,"

"If I recall, you were the one that came to the area that I was in. I was merely walking away until you called me out. And there is no way in hell I'm telling you where my teammates are," Shikamaru said. He was rewarded with a punch to the stomach by one of the other henchmen that Kabuto had. He would have buckled over if it weren't for Kabuto holding his arms back.

"I think you've been long overdue for a punishment," Kabuto leaned over and whispered in his ear. Shikamaru was thankful that Ino and Choji were back at the tower. They didn't need to go through this. Shikamaru knew that there was no way he was getting out of this, so he may as well try to negotiate something.

"Under one condition. You release me by the end of the day back to my teammates so that there is no suspicion from them. I'll tell them that I got in a scuffle with another team," Shikamaru said.

"I'll accept those conditions," Kabuto said, and dragged Shikamaru into an unused room in the tower. The men covered all the cameras in the room so that they could not be seen. Before Kabuto could tie him up, Shikamaru was able to get out of his grasp by performing a hand sign.

"What the fuck?" Kabuto yelled out.

"You really think I'm going to go out that easily?" Shikamaru said.

"Apprehend him. Now," Kabuto ordered the other two. The other two men attacked Shikamaru at full speed. He was able to avoid most of the attacks, but a foot managed to land on his stomach. Shikamaru coiled over in response, and one of the men elbowed him on the back and he fell down face first. He rolled over, barely missing another attack that was aimed at him. Shikamaru quickly got back up. As fast as he could, he created the hand signs for his deadly shadow stitching that he hadn't used for a while. He was able to get ahold of the two men, and activated it. The men were pierced by the stitching and they fell down to the ground, leaving pools of blood on the floor.

Before Shikamaru could do anything else, he felt a senbon pierce his arm. He looked at it and pulled it out. But it was too late. He saw a clear shimmering on the end of it and was able to recognize it as a paralysis poison. He could feel his body numb up and he fell back to the floor, again. No, no this can't be happening, Shikamaru thought, desperately trying to get his body to move. Shikamaru realized that those two men were just pawns in Kabuto's game. Even though they were his enemy, he was beyond angry.

"You'd use your own men as pawns for your own game?" Shikamaru asked angrily.

"Why yes, I would. Now that you can't move I can do whatever the hell I want. As the proctor said, anything goes battle," Kabuto said. Shikamaru felt Kabuto pick him up and drag him to another small room within that room. In here, there were no cameras to cover up.

"Remember the conditions that we made?" Shikamaru asked, hoping that he would be able to go back soon.

"You really think that I'm going to do that? That was all for show. But now, the real show begins. I have two days to do whatever I want to you. Am I going to kill you? No. That wouldn't be fun," Kabuto said, "That paralysis will last only one day, but I have a few more senbons to use. Now, let the fun commence,"

A day and a half passed and Kabuto finally let him go. He let him go early so that he was still able to complete the second round without any suspicion arousing. He had let Shikamaru go with a warning that he would kill everybody that he knew if he let it leak that an invasion was going to happen. Shikamaru was thinking about lies that he could use to tell his teammates about what happened. He decided to say that he was used as a hostage for various reasons if they asked up to that point. He entered into the room where his teammates were, relieved that they were still there.

"Shikamaru," he heard Ino yell, and ran up to him.

"What happened? Where did you go?" She asked.

"Some complications came up," Shikamaru said as he sat down, wincing at the pain.

"How did you get so injured?" Ino asked.

"I got into a few scuffles," he said. While it was true that Kabuto had tortured him for the past day and a half, he also healed him slightly so that there were no noticeable wounds. The only wounds were underneath his shirt. Kabuto in the end put in a weird serum that caused a very uncomfortable pain throughout his body that was supposed to last up to a day. This wasn't the first time that he had that serum used against him, though the pain was a lot less than it could have been. It was hard to keep his breathing even, but somehow he managed.

"Are you in pain?" Choji asked.

"Not that much," Shikamaru lied, "I'm just really tired," Kabuto had deprived him of sleep as well. The main way he did that was through pain.

"Well come on. We can now open up the scrolls in the room that we need to go to," Ino said. Shikamaru nodded his head and got up. They walked to the room that was labelled with a number seven. Once they were in, they opened up the scroll and were greeted by their sensei, Asuma.

"Congratulations on completing the second round of the chunin exams," he said happily. He looked at his worn down students to see that Shikamaru was in pain.

"Are you alright Shikamaru? You look like you're hurt," he said. Leave it to his sensei to pick up the small signs.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sore and tired," Shikamaru answered, tired of people constantly asking him if he was fine. Asuma looked at him closely. Though he claimed to be fine, he could tell that Shikamaru was hiding something. He decided to let it go for now.

"You guys all look exhausted. However, this isn't completely over. Follow me," Asuma said. They were lead to another room that was in the center of the tower. They saw the other teams that finished. Out of all of them, there were only twenty one left. Shikamaru stood at the front with Ino and Choji behind him. And as fate had it, Kabuto was next to him. He could sense Kabuto smirking as though he had won something. Shikamaru could also sense that his sensei was looking at him. Perhaps he knows that he is hiding something. Shikamaru hoped that he wasn't giving off a pained look.

His thoughts were interrupted when the Hokage started to speak. He tuned out most of what was being said. Something about friendship between villages. It was then announced that they would have to do a preliminary match to eliminate more people. However, what Kabuto said took Shikamaru by surprise.

"We'll yield. We won't take part in the third round," Kabuto said. Wait a second, we? Shikamaru looked over to see that there were two new goons standing by Kabuto. He must've gathered a few more sound ninja and had them dress identically as the others. The Hokage nodded and the group left, Kabuto giving Shikamaru a smirking smile on the way out.

They walked up to the balcony where they would watch the matches. This was really going to be a pain. He was already in consistent pain, something like a sewing needle constantly attacking him. He didn't pay that much attention to the fights until he noticed that it was his turn. Part of him dreaded this fight. He hated being in the center of attention.

Shikamaru walked down to fight his opponent. A sound ninja named Kin. It started off well. He was busy avoiding senbons being thrown at him, and luckily none hit him. He used his shadow jutsu and finished off the match. He let out a small sigh of relief. Even though every part of his body hurt like hell and it was a chore to move, he managed to win. He walked back up to the balcony and sat down, too tired and in pain to be standing up. He realized that he hasn't slept in over 24 hours and it's starting to take a toll on him. Damn that Kabuto.

"Good job Shikamaru," Asuma sensei said.

"Thanks sensei," Shikamaru said back, still not looking up at him. Shikamaru knew that he wasn't able to look at the adults in the eye. He knew that he'd been conditioned not to do that. Realizing that that may be a clue to what happened back when he was kidnapped, he decided to make a conscious effort to look at his sensei, not wanting them to find anything out about his past. Slowly, he looked up at Asuma sensei. He was now able to take in all the features of his face, and for the first time, saw his sensei clearly. He could tell that Asuma looked surprised at his actions, but gave a small smile. Shikamaru wondered what he would be able to see if he did this with his parents. He made a vow that tonight he would look at both of his parents in the eyes.

The final battles commenced and then it was over. Everyone chose a number and were able to figure out who they were battling for the final round. Shikamaru's partner would be a girl named Temari. They were dismissed and Shikamaru walked out with his team.

"We should celebrate Shikamaru going on to the third round with some BBQ," Choji said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, that sounds fun. What do you say Shikamaru?" Ino asked.

"I'm sorry guys, but I'm really tired and sore. I need to sleep," Shikamaru said, "But we can do it another time," he added. Ino pouted,

"Fine," she said. Asuma chuckled,

"It's probably for the best. You all need your rest,"

The four separated their own ways to their houses. Shikamaru was relieved when he finally got to his house. This had been a long five days. He entered the house and was overrun by his mom who was giving him a hug.

"I'm so happy that you've made it," she said happily.

"You already know that I made it to the third round?" Shikamaru asked, slightly confused,

"Yes. Asuma sent word right after you won. He warned us that you looked exhausted though. How are you feeling?" His father asked. Shikamaru was finally released from the hug that his mom gave.

"I'm fine. Like Asuma said, I just need a lot of sleep right now," Shikamaru reassured. He then remember his promise to himself and looked up at his parents for the first time. He could see the worried look that they both possessed with a hint of pride, and now, happiness. Shikamaru gave a small smile.

"I'm going to go to sleep now," he said, and left to go to his room. Yoshino looked over to her husband with a shocked face.

"Did you see that? He looked at us. He actually looked at us in the eyes," she said in disbelief. Shikaku smiled,

"I know Yoshino, I know," he said, and went over to hug his wife.


	5. Chapter 5: After the chunin exams

**Hello everyone! Thanks for being patient and sorry for not uploading. I've been really** **forgetful during the summer. Once again, I have not given up on this story. I promise! Also, formatting may be a bit weird. Sorry.**

 _Shikamaru was in pain. Something that seemed to happen to him a lot. Takata was dragging him back to the 'base'. They had been in a life or death battle and nearly lost. Takata was in much better shape than Shikamaru, though he was still quite beat up. They finally made it to the compound and went over to the medical room. Shikamaru hated the medical room. It was run by a horrible and creepy person named Kabuto, who gave you pain while healing you. It was his form of torture. As long as he didn't kill his patients, it was free will._

"I'm sorry that you'll have to go through this," Takata said,

" _Don't be. I'm the one who was stupid enough to get this injured," Shikamaru said. Kabuto heard the two talking and looked up from his work._

" _Just in time 122. I have a new serum that I wanted to try out on somebody," he stated as though that was something a person would say on a daily basis. Shikamaru scowled. Just great timing._

" _You may go 123. I only require 122 to be in my presence," Takata was about to rebuttal, but Shikamaru gave him a look that told him to leave. Takata placed Shikamaru down on the ground, as there were no beds, and left. Shikamaru was now alone with Kabuto, which he never liked._

" _Get up on the counter. I'll work with you from there," Kabuto ordered. Shikamaru slowly got up and walked as best as he could to the steal, cold counter that was used as a 'bed'. He heaved himself up and laid down. Kabuto came over and took off Shikamaru's shirt and pants so that he could see the wounds. The then strapped his arms and legs to the counter._

" _Looks like you did a number on yourself 122. I'll be happy to fix that," Kabuto said in an almost excited voice. Shikamaru looked over to see that he was holding a syringe that contained a neon yellow looking serum in it._

" _You'll have fun with this one. I think it's my best yet," Kabuto said. He inserted the syringe in his neck. Shikamaru felt the prick of the syringe and the hot feeling of the serum entering his body. In seconds he felt a very hot sensation spread throughout his body. Much like he was being held over fire. Then the added piercing of knives had come in. Kabuto placed a gag in Shikamaru's mouth._

" _Let the fun commence," he said, every time he began torturing his patients. Shikamaru started screaming, but it was muffled by the gag. He tried to escape but was unable to. At one point, he was unable to comprehend what was happening because of the pain._

 _The next thing Shikamaru knew, he was back at the small room in the tower during the chunin exams. Though this time, there was even more pain being done to him. Kabuto would slice him with a kunai, heal it, and repeat the process. Sometimes, he'd put the kunai in after it was put in a fire. There was a gag in his mouth again, this time so that nobody could hear him screaming. Kabuto leaned over and stared at Shikamaru's small form, curled up on the floor from pain. He lifted up the kunai and brought it straight down on his face_

Shikamaru woke up gasping for breath. He was drenched in sweat. It took himself a few minutes to regain composure, though he was happy that this time he didn't scream. He looked at the clock to see that it was 6:00 am. He was still exhausted, but going back to sleep was not going to happen. He got up and turned on the shower so that it was scorching hot. Shikamaru stayed there for a good half an hour, running the water cold before he got out. He dried himself and went to put on some clothes.

He went in front of the mirror and saw all the scars and burns that had been inflicted onto him, even the newest ones from this past week. Sighing, he put on his shirt. It was almost seven in the morning which meant that his parents would be up soon. Deciding that he wanted some time by himself, he went outside to the forest, wanting to seek refuge with the deer. Deer are nice. They won't judge you or scrutinize you. They'll only give you comfort, since they can tell when you are upset.

Shikamaru walked into the forest and immediately a deer came out and went up to him. Shikamaru held out a hand and pet the deer. The deer nuzzled him, it's attempt to cheer him up. Shikamaru went over and sat by a tree, the deer following and curling up beside him. He curled up by the deer and closed his eyes. Being in the outdoors and around these animals was comforting to him. He was asleep within minutes, his body still craving sleep.

He was awoken a few hours later by a person calling out his name. Shikamaru grudgingly woke up. He noticed that the pain from the serum was now gone, and all that was left was an aching feeling. He looked up to see that his dad was a few feet away from him. Shikamaru felt the deer next to him stir and wake up as well. He pat the deer a few times and it walked away to join the rest of its family.

"What time is it?" Shikamaru asked

"It's about 8:00 am. You need to eat some breakfast," Shikaku said. That was true since he immediately went to sleep after the exam instead of eating. And with being tortured by Kabuto, he didn't get to eat anything for almost three days straight. Shikamaru slowly got up and walked back into his home. The two sat down at the table and Yoshino put down the food.

"Why were you sleeping out in the forest Shikamaru?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru didn't answer right away.

"I had a nightmare," he stated. He saw his father knit his eyes in concern.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yoshino asked

"I don't really remember it. I just know that I had a nightmare and was disturbed," Shikamaru lied. Shikamaru could tell that his father wasn't convinced, but didn't press any further. Shikamaru was still anxious about what would happen. Kabuto could still be somewhere in the village and attack at any moment. There had to be a reason why he resigned from the preliminary rounds. He knew that he had to be careful when he would be walking around the village later. He finished eating and went back to his room. Immediately he laid down on his bed and sighed. He was surprised that he could eat something. Even though he was really hungry, the thought of food slightly disgusted him. Everything just made him really tired and he didn't want to deal with anything today. Unfortunately, a couple hours later, that wasn't the case.

Shikaku knocked on the door and called to Shikamaru,

"Shikamaru, Asuma is here to speak with you," he said. Shikamaru walked up to the door and opened it. He let Asuma in and Shikamaru sat on his bed.

"I'm going to get straight to the point, Shikamaru. Something is wrong and you're not telling me," Shikamaru sighed. He figured something like this was going to happen.

"I'm fine, Asuma sensei," Shikamaru said.

"No, you're not. You know it's my job as a Sensei to be able to tell when one of my students isn't doing well. And I can tell, something is bothering you," Shikamaru looked to the side, not wanting to look at Asuma.

"It's complicated," Shikamaru responded.

"What's complicated?"

"This whole situation," Asuma walked over to Shikamaru and sat down beside him, causing the mattress to fall a bit.

"I'm guessing you can't tell me?" Asuma asked. Shikamaru nodded his head, and slowly looked up at Asuma,

"I will tell you. One day. But I won't right now," Shikamaru said.

"You won't or can't?" Asuma said, worried somebody might be after his student, sensing that there was more to this problem.

"Won't," Shikamaru said clearly, hoping Asuma would take the hint and not ask anymore questions. Asuma seemed to gather this hint and stood up.

"You know you can tell me anything right?" Asuma asked

"Yeah, I know Sensei," Shikamaru said, slightly smiling. Asuma smiled back, and walked out the door. Shikamaru could hear him talking to his father, most likely about their conversation. Shikamaru crawled back into bed, doing the one thing that he likes most. Sleeping.


	6. Chapter 6: The invasion

**Double update! Have fun reading**

A month had passed and there was no word or sign of Kabuto. Shikamaru was starting to feel really on edge about the whole scenario. The day of the third round would be tomorrow and Shikamaru was as prepared as he would ever be. Having recovered from the whole ordeal from the forest of death, this would be easy. He still suffered from nightmares which affected his sleep. However, he was worried about what Kabuto would do during the invasion. Shikamaru would have told somebody, but knowing how Kabuto is able to hear about anything, he hadn't even tried. Not even so much as write a note about it and burn it later. He was that afraid.

The day of the third round came and Shikamaru walked up to the arena. They had the introduction of who would be battling to the rest of the villagers who had come to watch. The competitors walked up to the balcony that they would be spectating at. The first few matches went on, then it was the most anticipated match of the evening. Sasuke v. Gaara. After them, it would be Shikamaru's turn. The battle for Sasuke and Gaara went on for a long time. Shikamaru began to lose interest and looked up to the sky. He saw what looked to be feathers falling down from the sky. Wait? Feathers? He left the box and ran up towards the spectator stands, ignoring Naruto's obnoxious yells asking him where he was going. He could feel a genjutsu come his way and repelled it. Shikamaru made it up to the spectator stands to find that all the other genin had fallen into the deep sleep, however, their sensei's were still awake.

"What's happening?" Shikamaru asked, Kakashi raised an eyebrow, surprised that Shikamaru was not asleep like the others. Every other genin got caught up in the genjutsu. He must have had extreme training when he was kidnapped was the conclusion that Kakashi had come up with.

"It looks like we're being ambushed by the Hidden Sand village," Kakashi answered.

"But I thought we were allies with them?" Shikamaru asked. This wasn't right. Wasn't it supposed to be the Sound that was attacking them?

"Well, we were shaky allies. It was strong enough so that we wouldn't start a war against each other. Or so we thought," Kakashi explained. The sound of kunai hitting against each other and flying around encompassed them. Wherever Shikamaru went he had to be careful about flying kunai. Kakashi went over to the other genin and woke up Sakura. He explained what was happening and then woke up Naruto, who immediately started acting crazy. It turned out that Shikamaru would be leading them to chase after Sasuke and Gaara. They immediately left with Naruto asking a million questions. Naruto was loud the whole way which really annoyed Shikamaru, but he didn't comment on it. Suddenly, he sensed some chakra. Scratch that, a lot of chakra. He motioned for the others to stop on the tree branch as well as the dog that Kakashi had sent with them.

"Why are we stopping?" Naruto asked annoyed

"There are people chasing after us," Shikamaru said,

"How many?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru looked at the pug who was sniffing. By himself he would have guessed there'd be about seven enemies.

"There's nine following us," Pakkun said. Damn, he was off. He used to be a lot better at this.

"What do we do?" Sakura asked,

"Whatever we do, we need to hurry. Who knows how far Sasuke's gone now," Naruto said.

"You two go. I'll stay behind and be a distraction. You two need to finish what you set out for. I don't really care about what Sasuke is up to. It'll only be annoying to chase after him," Shikamaru said.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked,

"Yes, now go," Shikamaru ordered. The other two ran off as he went the direction they were just coming from. It wasn't long before he came across eight sound ninja, some of which, he assumed were hidden Fang ninja as well. Wait? There was only eight. Where was the ninth?

"Come out, I know you're hiding," Shikamaru yelled to no one in particular. He could see some of the other men smirk at his command. The man who was hiding took his time to get into view of Shikamaru.

"It's nice to meet you again. Looks like you've recovered from our little alone time," Kabuto said mockingly. Shikamaru glared up at him, though not looking directly at his eyes.

"What do you want Kabuto?" Shikamaru asked. Without warning, Kabuto threw a senbon at Shikamaru. He had no time to dodge so he had to hold up his arms in an X position to protect his face and chest. The senbon pierced his arm and he slid back. Immediately he took it out. Who knew what crazy chemical Kabuto had put in there. However, deep down he knew it was pointless. The chemical was probably already working its way through his body. Kabuto smiled, satisfied with the result.

"You thought that our little session was bad, this will be worse. Bone ripping pain beyond your belief. Part of me wants to tell you what you will entail in the next twenty four hours, but another part of me wants you to find out on your own. You know what? I'll let you figure it out on your own. Don't worry, this won't kill you. I'm still not done having fun with you," Kabuto said in his evil voice.

It was sudden. A piercing stab that went through his whole body. Part of his body felt on fire, and the other ice cold. One part felt like it was being sliced over and over again, while the other felt like it was being pounded on by a hammer. Shikamaru collapsed on the ground in agonizing pain. It hurt so much that he could hardly breath. The weird thing about this chemical, is that it somehow stopped him from screaming.

"That's right, you can't scream. Nobody will be able to hear your pathetic screams to come and save you," Kabuto said. Shikamaru was taking in short, shallow breaths, afraid that he was going to pass out. As if Kabuto read his mind, he spoke again,

"Don't worry. You won't pass out. That's something else this chemical prohibits you from doing so. Have fun writhing in pain you pathetic excuse for a ninja," Kabuto left along with the other ninja that were with him, leaving Shikamaru alone to shake on the floor in pain. Though the pain was horrible, something else bothered him more. The complete silence. It was like an omen that nobody would find him and he would lay on the ground in pain for twenty four hours. Actually, who knew how long it could last. Kabuto could be lying for all he knew.

What seemed like hours, though it was only twenty minutes, someone finally came. He felt the presence of multiple people but was too much in pain to be able to figure out how many people there were. Someone walked up to him and placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. Shikamaru slowly turned his head to find that Asuma was right beside him.

"What happened Shikamaru?" Asuma asked, clearly worried for his student. All Shikamaru could do was shake his head. He wasn't even able to speak.

"Call for a medical squad," Asuma ordered the other ninja.

"Hang in there, we'll get you to the hospital soon," Asuma reassured Shikamaru. It was another twenty minutes before he was placed onto a plain white bed surrounded by white walls. Even though he wasn't able to sleep, he still closed his eyes, trying to do the impossible task. Not being able to talk was a real pain. If he could talk, he would be able to tell them what happened so that they could treat him better. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. All he could do was watch the scene of confusion unfold.

"What's happening?" he heard his dad ask. Wait, when did his dad get here? Shikamaru opened his eyes to see that both his mom and dad were now present.

"Why is he shaking like that? How much pain is he in?" Yoshino asked worriedly, coming beside Shikamaru to comfort him.

"We don't know ma'am. We're trying to figure it out as fast as we can," the nurse said, scribbling down the vitals that showed on his machine. That's it, Shikamaru figured out a way he could try to communicate with to them. He slowly lifted up his arm and did the universal sign for writing. Luckily, he came from a house of Nara's and his dad was able to pick it up right away.

"Do you have any pen and paper? Shikamaru could try and write down what's happening," Shikaku said. The nurse nodded her head and brought over what was needed. Shikamaru tried his best to write down what happened. It was hardly legible because of all the shaking that he was doing, but it was enough to set the point across.

 _Senbon. Chemical. Extreme pain. Can't sleep or talk. Twenty four hours._

With that short note, he was sure that his dad could figure everything out. He could see his mom's face grow with more worry as she read the extreme pain part.

"Shikamaru, on a scale of one to ten, how extreme is the pain?" Asuma asked. Shikamaru held up a ten. He could feel his mom hug him, trying to comfort him.

"With Shikamaru not being able to sleep for twenty four hours in this extreme amount of pain, it will put a huge toll on his body," Shikaku said.

"Since it's a strange new chemical, it will be risky to give him painkillers. The person who created it could have programed it to go worse with any medication," the nurse said.

"Son, who did this to you?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru wrote down the three character name that has haunted him for a long time.

 _Kabuto_

"Kabuto? Wasn't that one of the contestants of the Chunin exams?" Shikaku asked.

"Yeah, but he quit during the preliminary rounds of the third round," Asuma explained, angered that they had somehow let this man hurt his student.

"Well, all we can do now is wait. Shikamaru, you still have twenty three hours left," Asuma said. Shikamaru nodded his head in understanding, and leaned into his mother's embrace, still shaking from the immense pain.


	7. Chapter 7: Didn't mean to say that much

The next twenty four hours passed really slowly. Asuma had to check in on Ino and Choji but promised he would come back. His parents had stayed with him the whole time, Shikamaru huddled into his mom's arms. The pain stayed as intense as it was the second it started, to the second it finished. It was the sudden release of pain that made Shikamaru pass out. Yoshino looked up, startled when Shikamaru collapsed into her arms.

"It must be done," he said, and went out to grab a nurse.

Shikamaru was unconscious for the next week, his body recovering from the whole ordeal. Finally, Shikamaru woke up in the early morning, groggy, achy and really confused. It took a few minutes for him to fully remember what happened. He heard the door open and saw his mother walk in.

"Shikamaru," she said happily, rushing towards him to hug him.

"How long have I been out?" Shikamaru asked, accepting the warmth of his mom.

"You've been out for a week," his mom said worriedly.

"A week? What's happened since?" he asked. Yoshino shook her head,

"You don't need to know yet. What you do need is some rest," Shikamaru sighed,

"What do you think I've been doing for the past week?" Shikamaru complained.

"Nope. More. Rest," Yoshino said. Shikamaru groaned in annoyance and laid back down on the bed.

It wasn't until another week that Shikamaru could finally get out of the hospital. It was about time because he was about to go crazy in there. Even though he had rested, he was still tired. He got nightmares at night about his capture during the Chunin exams, something that always had happened, but this time it was worse. He hadn't spoken about that day to anyone yet, though he knew he was going to be forced to do it soon. Sure enough, a few days after he returned home, he was ordered before the Hokage to speak. One of the many things that happened while he was in the hospital was the appointing of the new Hokage, Lady Tsunade. Shikamaru was called before her along with his dad, and Asuma.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see that there were ANBU stationed there as well. Shikamaru entered the room and was greeted by Lady Tsunade.

"I am Lady Tsunade, the new Hokage. If I am right, you were passed out during the time that I was appointed," she said.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shikamaru said. She motioned for him, Shikaku and Asuma to sit.

"I also gather that we have a lot to talk over," she said. Shikamaru nodded his head. He still didn't want to tell them everything.

"Listen Shikamaru. We don't have to know everything yet. If you only feel comfortable talking about what happened during the Chunin exams, you may," Shikamaru was silent for a while, before he spoke,

"Kabuto was one of the Masters in the place where I was kept captive. Specifically, he was the medic. Though he more enjoyed inflicting pain than curing it. I was one of his favorites to experiment his chemicals that he made. This one was by far the worst though. During the second round, he captured me. I was going to get some food and he came up. He threatened to hurt Ino and Choji, so I went willingly. He used similar chemicals to torture me with for the last day and a half. It wasn't as bad as it could have been because I was still able to act like I wasn't in pain. When I fought against Kin, I was still in pain. During the invasion, I left Sakura and Naruto because there were people following us. I met up with them and Kabuto was there. He threw a senbon and it was laced with another chemical. You all know what happened afterwards," he concluded.

The room was silent, contemplating what was just said. Shikaku was angry, that his son was tortured in his own home village and they didn't know about it. Asuma was mad at himself for not pressing further with Shikamaru. He knew something was wrong, but didn't ask anymore questions.

"Why didn't you tell us that he tortured you during the second round?" Shikaku asked.

"He threatened to hurt my family and friends if anyone knew. I'm still scared that that will happen. Who knows where he is now," Shikamaru answered.

"This is definitely a lot to take in," Lady Tsunade said.

"There's one more thing. Some of those men weren't from the sound village. They were from the land of Fang. I recognized them since they worked at the prison that I was kept at," Shikamaru said.

"Did you just say the land of Fang?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru looked up in shock and placed his hands over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that much. How could he have been so careless? The others were surprised by his actions.

"You didn't want us to know that, did you?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru slowly nodded his head.

"Shikamaru," Asuma started, causing Shikamaru to look at him, "You know that if you tell us where this prison is that these horrible men enslaved these boys, we can stop them," Shikamaru was conflicted. He really wanted to tell them, yet at the same time, he couldn't. Tsunade's eyes were calculative, thinking of something that could work.

"Shikamaru, I have a proposition to talk to you about," she said. Everybody in the room looked at her, curious of what she was going to say.

"Obviously, this base has been in operation for a long time. You can be the key factor in stopping it. You don't have to tell us anything of what happened in there. I can set you up with a team and some ANBU to terminate the base," she said.

"And who would be with Shikamaru?" the Third asked,

"I was planning on Shikaku, Asuma and Kakashi. I will also send three squads of ANBU along with them," Tsunade answered. Shikaku was nodding his head in agreement, along with Asuma.

"Shikamaru?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru slowly nodded his head,

"I think I can agree to that," he said. Tsunade smiled.

"Great. I'll talk to Kakashi and in a week you'll depart. Shikamaru, you'll have to lead them since you're the only one who knows where the base is," she said.

"I understand," The three of them started to get up and walk out of the room,

"Oh, and another thing," Tsunade said, "I'll have the ANBU squads deal with Kabuto and his henchmen," Shikamaru nodded and went out with his dad and Sensei, content with the mission that has befallen him. He will destroy that compound, no matter what.


	8. Chapter 8: The Prison

**Warning: This chapter will contain mentions of torture and rape.**

The next week came by fast. Shikamaru had fully recovered by then and was anticipating the mission that was at hand. He was comforted by the fact that his dad, Asuma and Kakashi were with him, along with three ANBU squads, but he was still worried that something could go horribly wrong. He waited at the gate to meet the others. Surprisingly, this time Kakashi was on time. He must do that when a mission is of utter importance. They headed off, with the ANBU tailing behind in the shadows. It had taken them a few days until they got to the border of the land of Fang. Shikamaru immediately felt the menace just within the air. Almost like something was rotten with this country.

"I don't like the feel of this," Kakashi said

"Me neither," Asuma replied.

"We'll have to be extra careful. Shikamaru, how good is your stealth skills?" Shikaku asked.

"I'd say it's at least Jounin level. That was one of the areas that our Master's taught us the most," Shikamaru answered.

"Did they never give you their name? They only had you call them master?" Shikaku asked, not liking the way his son was addressing his captors.

"Yeah," Shikamaru responded simply. They continued on to the path that Shikamaru remembered. The base was almost at the heart of the land of Fang, close, but not too close to the main city. Shikamaru remembered taking trips to the capital. They were never pleasant, but it was part of the job. It always involved the local gang or some creepy pervert that always had an eye on Takata. Shikamaru stopped suddenly. He had felt something like a genjutsu nearby.

"We're almost there," he said.

"How do you know?" Asuma asked.

"Master taught us how to sense a genjutsu within a few miles away. Since I lived here for six years I am able to immediately sense the genjutsu he used. Though something feels off. I don't know why he's kept the same one up. You'd think after I left, he would change it immediately. It's like he wants me to come back," Shikamaru said, unnerved.

"Then we'll have to be extra careful. I'll go tell the ANBU about the situation," Kakashi said, and left in a puff of smoke, which would leave any normal genin gawking in awe, but he already knew how to do that with his shadows. When Kakashi returned, they decided to call it a day. They would head out tomorrow after they got some rest. They set up camp and Shikamaru fell asleep.

 _They were herded like sheep, being sent to the slaughter house. Well, some of them were. The others were sent to another path. Shikamaru was with Takata and both were confused as to why they were being lead to an unknown destination at 2:00am in the morning. The two had just come back from a mission earlier that morning, so they didn't get much sleep before they were woken up to the sound of and alarm blaring._

 _Nobody knew what was happening. This was a part of the base that nobody had gone to before. All three hundred boys were being lead to a different part of the basement. Shikamaru stayed close to Takata, trying not to get separated from the crowd. They were lead to a pathway that went up. They entered a room where the chairs were tiered, and looked out at a one way glass._

 _They could see in, but the other people being herded in the other room couldn't see them. Shikamaru was afraid, there was no doubt about that, however, he didn't dare share his thoughts with Takata, since he was more afraid of what would happen if he was heard. Shikamaru realized that the one thing that was the most frightening was how quiet it was. If you take away the alarm which was going off, everyone was silent. There was no crying, no yelling and no whispers of fear. Only dead silence._

 _They were all tied to the chairs that were set up. Their arms, legs and head were tied up to the chair, prohibiting them from looking around. They were only able to look at the one spot that their Masters wanted them to look at. The killing floor. Once everybody was set up, their Master started speaking,_

" _You all know I value strength and subordinance. Some of you are not accomplishing either, and that needs to be punished," he motioned an arm to the thirty or so kids in the room, some as young as five._

" _For this, you all will be punished. Let this be a lesson to everyone, that you need to follow instructions well and consistently get stronger," Master said, with an evil grin, "Begin,"_

 _The next few hours that followed was one of the most grotesque things that Shikamaru had ever seen. The kids were beaten bloody. The Masters cut off their fingers and toes one by one, they nailed nails into their joints. Some even went so far as to rape them continuously. They were forced to watch every second of it. They could hear the screams of the kids and watched them die one by one by every torture imaginable. Shikamaru could hear some of the kids behind him throw up and some passed out from fear. Those that passed out were taken away to another room. Most likely to be killed off. The stench of blood drifted its way up to the room making the kids gag. Finally, the last kid that was alive was killed. The floor below them was covered with blood, semen, burning flesh and vomit. The stench overpowering them. Somehow, Shikamaru didn't throw up._

 _They were released back into their cells, some unlucky enough to have to clean the killing floor. None of them slept the rest of the night, nor did they eat the next day. Some, for several days. It had broken some of the kids even more than they already were. Takata and Shikamaru were one of the few that were able to recover the quickest. They all learned the same thing that night. Learn quickly, and don't disobey._

Shikamaru woke up with a cold sweat, breathing hard. He couldn't see around him for a while. He was too busy trying to calm himself down. That was one of the worst days in that camp next to the day he saw his best friend, Takata be killed. He felt a presence next to him, but didn't register who it was. Instinctively, he jerked away when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, it's okay. It's just me. It was just a nightmare. You're safe," Shikaku said. Shikamaru looked to where the voice was and relaxed slightly when he saw that it was in fact, his dad kneeling down next to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru shook his head. He wasn't ready to tell anyone what happened that night. He may never be ready. After a while with the help of his dad, he was able to calm down.

"Sorry," he said

"What are you talking about. You don't have to be sorry," Shikaku said. Shikamaru took a deep breath and stood up.

"What time is it?" he asked

"3:00am," Shikaku said, "We're all up so we may as well continue. We're almost there right?" Shikaku asked. Shikamaru nodded his head, "Yeah," he responded. They continued on for another few hours until they were almost at the border of where the genjutsu was.

"We're here," Shikamaru said

"It must be under an extremely strong genjutsu. I can't see anything," Kakashi said.

"I can't just undo it. That will alert them. However, I can transport you all, one at a time into the place with my shadow jutsu that I learned while I was here," Shikamaru said, "However, it will wear me out in a bit. I haven't done it in a while,"

"How strong are you Shikamaru?" Asuma asked, curious as to how much Shikamaru actually knew.

"A lot stronger than I've been showing off," Shikamaru answered. It took a good twenty minutes to get everyone across. He only transported himself before, but with another person, it was twice as much work. Once they were in they saw the large camp that sat in front of them. It was made entirely of steel. The windows were barred and there was a steel metal door that wouldn't budge open. The outside had electric fences that surrounded a courtyard where the kids would train. The grass wasn't well kept which enhanced the feeling of the prison. There were no street lights around the entire thing, the only thing illuminating the building was the moon shining down on it.

Shikaku became really angry. This was where his son spent six years of his life, held like a caged animal, ready to do his 'Master's' bidding. Shikamaru wasn't too fond of being back. Just around the back was where his best friend was killed. The only thing that kept him calm was that they were here to free the kids, and destroy this camp.

"Let's go around the back, there's an entrance there that I can get us through," Shikamaru said. He lead them around and went through. It was completely dark, forcing them feel for the walls. Thankfully it was a small corridor. The corridor lead to a large hallway, slightly illuminated by lamps on the walls.

"Why are there no guards?" Asuma whispered

"All of them are where they keep the kids locked up," Shikamaru answered. They turned right and looked through all the doors. One room in particular caught Shikaku's eyes. It was a room filled with filing cabinets. He opened one up and looked inside.

Name: Asaka Kasuo

Number: 342

Age: 7

From: Land of Grass

Status: Terminated

Reason: Insubordination

Shikaku looked next to the description to find a picture of a young kid with short blond hair, green eyes and pale skin. His eyes looked hollow, as though there was no emotion. There was a big red stamp on the picture. Shikamaru came up and looked at the picture. His face paled considerably. That was one of the kids during that fateful night that was tortured to death. Shikaku looked over to see his son pale at the sight of the picture.

"Do you know this kid?" he asked. Asuma and Kakashi, who were both looking through the other filing cabinets, looked towards them, interested in the conversation.

"Yeah. I saw him get killed. He was tortured to death for insubordination," Shikamaru said. He then added, "Along with thirty other kids," in a whisper. He quickly opened the drawer all the way and looked at the files. This particular one was dedicated to all the kids that died that night. He moved over to the next filing cabinets to search for the one person he wanted. He didn't know his last name which was a problem, but it seemed to be filed based on the date of death. He opened a drawer and the one he picked up was his. The others saw this and came over to look. Shikamaru opened it up.

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Number: 122

Age: 12

From: Land of Fire

Status: Terminated

Reason: Insubordination

Apparently they couldn't accept the fact that he actually managed to leave the camp and labeled him as dead. Which technically, to them, he was. He looked at the picture of him and saw the big red stamp that said terminated on it. He gave it to Shikaku who looked it over with Kakashi and Asuma. Shikamaru was slightly afraid to look at the file that was bound to be next. Slowly taking in a breath, he took it out and opened it.

Name: Takata Korin

Number: 123

Age: 11

From: Land of Rivers

Status: Terminated

Reason: Insubordination

He slowly looked to the right of the page where the picture was. Even though it had a stamp on it, he could clearly see the image of his best friend. Takata had a blueish black hair, dark blue eyes, and dressed in the classic grey that everybody had. Shikamaru had never known that he was from the land of Rivers, though his facial features really matched the idea of where he was from. He also didn't know that he was a year younger than Shikamaru.

"Who's that?" Asuma asked, noticing that Shikamaru was fixated on the one file. Shikamaru looked up at the three.

"My friend," he said. He wanted to say more but that was all that could come out. The others seemed to understand, however, and didn't ask any more questions.

"By the way, how are we going to destroy this building?" Shikamaru asked.

"The ANBU are already on their way with breaking the kids free. They also will kill or take captive the people you call 'Masters'. They've called in for backup, considering that this is a larger scale than we thought," Kakashi said. Shikamaru nodded his head,

"Let's get out of here. I can't be in this room any longer," Shikamaru said. He left with the others following behind. He walked instinctively throughout the corridors. Though he hadn't been in here for almost a year, he still knew where everything was. The next room that he lead them to was the indoor training room. It was one of the largest rooms of the building.

"How many hours were you in here training?" Kakashi asked,

"Nearly the whole day with few breaks in between," Shikamaru answered. He walked up the middle of the room, taking everything in again. The times when he was training, he was able to forget where he was to a point and focus on getting stronger. That was, until it was time to dish out the punishments. He walked over to the door at the end of the room. He looked over at the others, signaling them to follow him. Shikamaru entered the room and it was a completely different atmosphere. He walked through the hallway where there were doors lined up one after another. He walked for a while more until he picked one at random and opened it.

Inside there was various torture devices that were used on the kids. He remembered being in these rooms during the days that training was bad or they came back from a mission gone wrong.

"What happens here?" Asuma asked, not sure if he wanted to know. Little did Shikamaru know that these small questions were helping him a lot. Though he didn't like talking about his experience here, he was able to talk about it in small portions.

"Torture. It didn't matter what. You could have failed a mission, failed at training that day, or they would do it just for the fun of it," Shikamaru said.

"Were you in here?" Shikaku asked.

"Yes. The one that I remember the most was after a failed mission. My friend Takata and I were captured by Iwa nin and tortured for information. We managed to escape. Even though we didn't say anything we were still placed into punishment when we got back. That lasted for about two weeks. It took almost three months to recover from that.

"How long were you held captive in Iwa?" Kakashi asked,

"I have no idea. The days blurred together since we were kept underground. When we got back, they didn't even bother to tell us how long we were out. During that time, I didn't really know what was happening. We were kept underground for so long that it had probably been months before I could see the sun again," Shikamaru said. Kakashi felt a sadness for the kid. He himself had been captured by Iwa nin in his past and knew how ruthless they could be. To escape that and be tortured again was unthinkable.

"They didn't even come and search for you?" Asuma asked. Shikamaru gave a grim smirk,

"You kidding? Them, wasting their time to search for runts like us that they could easily replace. There was no way they would search for us. It's a miracle that I survived," Shikamaru said. Throughout the corridor they could hear shouting and fighting.

"The ANBU must be attacking now," Kakashi said.

"We should go and help them. I want to see every inch of this prison burned down," Shikamaru said. Kakashi nodded,

"Okay. We'll go and help them," the five left the room that they were in and headed over to where the ANBU were to help with destroying the cruel prison that kept hundreds of boys captive for years.

 **A/N: I know, it's been ages since I've uploaded. I somehow still have the story saved on my computer which means I can continue uploading it.**

 **If any of you are interested in Kpop, I have some stories written over on under the username: MangoMonkey. Please check out my stories if you are interested.**


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